Cheap psychological tricks for girls! We let you in on the sneaky science behind always getting your way!

They'll be weak against your mind powers. Oh, yes, they will be ...

A very clever psychologist by the name of Perry Buffington recently wrote a book titled Cheap Psychological Tricks for Parents. This book gives parents hints on how to secretly get kids to do things like finish their homework and extra chores. Hmmph! How dare he! So, in hopes of evening the score, GL came up with our own guide to major mind magic.

GET A YES!

Pesky problem Your weekly allowance isn't even enough for penny candy.

The super sneaky science Ever hear of pupilometrics? Doubt it. (Your science teacher probably doesn't want you to start using it on her!) So what is it? Pupilometrics is the study in the change in size of the pupil, which is the center black part of your eyeball.

Studies have shown that pupils get bigger when we see something we like and get smaller when we're not happy. So wait until your parents' pupils are large to ask for more moolah. That's when their minds are automatically set to say, "Yes!" If their pupils are small, they're more likely to turn down your request for a bump.

Another tip: When answering a question, a person will look you in the eye, then look away while coming up with an answer. Right-lookers tend to make fast decisions based on the facts, so be prepared to give solid reasons why you have earned more allowance. Left-lookers are emotionally driven so, state your case for how happy you'd be with some more pocket change. And keep an eye on those pupils! If they get smaller, ask again later when they're wide.

WIGGLE OUT OF A PINCH

Pesky problem Oops, you've done it (whatever you get in trouble for) again.

The super sneaky science When confronted with something you don't have a good explanation for, the science says it pays to think smart and think fast. First, stand up when your room confronts you for whatever it is you've done. This makes her see you as more trustworthy, and studies have shown that standing actually gets your heart rate up, which pumps blood to your brain and helps you think quick, um, on your feet.

Now, deflect the situation. Say what you do know to be true, such as, "Wow, your white sweater is really nice. I can see why you think I borrowed it without asking." The idea is to calm her down and buy yourself some time to steer the conversation in another direction.

If Mom still has you on the spot, allow your face to turn bright red and be totally, completely, utterly embarrassed. Say, "I can't believe I took something without asking. I'm so ashamed." Studies have shown that others have sympathy for a person who is honestly embarrassed, so maybe she'll cut you some much-needed slack.

STAY OUT LATER

Pesky problem You're in the be-home-before-dark ages.

The super sneaky science Before you request a stay-out extension, make a list of the reasons you deserve more freedom (you got mostly A's, do chores without being asked). Have solid reasons ready, written down and at your fingertips.

Next, practice posing your question. Never say something like, "Would you consider letting me stay at the mall a little bit longer this Friday night?" Wishy-washy lines imply that you don't deserve what you're asking for. Instead, try, "I deserve a later curfew." Then, practice asking for even more than they'll allow. Try saying, "I would like to stay out until midnight, and here's why," then present them with your list.

Aim higher than you need or deserve, and you'll have a much better chance of your parents being willing to meet you in the middle. Just say, "I'm willing to compromise," and start negotiating! Plus, when you ask for more than you want, you're showing that you have mucho confidence in yourself--and that means they'll have more in you, too.

SCORE A SECRET

Pesky problem Your sis has a secret. You want to know the scoop--and now.

The super sneaky science Ask sis a short, simple question about the suspected secret ("So, what do you think of the new lifeguard?"), and look her squarely in the eyes while you await her answer. This is an old trick reporters use to make people they're interviewing uncomfortable. Most people can't stand the quiet and will start to stammer, then spill.

Is she still keeping her trap shut? If that's the case, be playful. Say, "Give me a little hint," or, "Let me guess it." Being funny and making it a game can cause her to let down her guard. Oh, and at this point, stop the staring.

If she still doesn't tell you, back off and try again later (wait until her pupils are big!). Never beg to hear a secret--that makes it way too much fun for the other person to stay mum.

MAKE MOM STOP FREAKING

Pesky problem Your mom's about to have an out-of-the-blue arterial explosion.

The super sneaky science Let's face it--moms are under a lot of stress and can be prone to the occasional meltdown. The secret to making Mom feel like you care--even when, well, you'd rather be watching TRL--is to listen quietly, with an attentive, understanding expression. Hiding from the situation or blowing her off is guaranteed to make her nuttier.

How do you get her to spill before she spazzes? Simply ask Mom (or Dad or your smelly stepbrother), "What's the matter?" Now, allow the ranter to spew while you sit quietly, listening. Once the tirade is over, ask, "Is there anything else that's bothering you?" Mom will either drop it or tell you what's really wrong--like, someone at work is being a pain.

Either way, you've skillfully diffused the anger in the situation, and you've endeared yourself to Mom by being the person who cared enough to listen. Now, hopefully, you can go back to watching TRL in peace.

Psychological Tricks in Selling

You ARE selling something. Whether you are a Real Estate agent selling multi-million dollar homes, or a worker trying to sell your boss on the idea that you are a valuable employee, everybody is selling something. So it would be wise to learn these secret tricks and use them to achieve your own personal success.

The secret psychological tricks that I am going to reveal are not really secret. They have been used by shrewed salesman for millenium. Their existence was revealed back in 1984 by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his book "Influence : The Psychology of Persuasion".

You will recognize these tricks being used everywhere in advertising today. Now you will be able to put them to use to enhance your own personal success.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 1: Reciprocity

Reciprocity works like this: you give someone something of value for free. That individual feels an obligation to return the favor. Reciprocity is a very powerful principle.

To use reciprocity as a marketing tool, you give people something of value for free, they reciprocate by purchasing your product or service. But you would be surprised how many advertisers totally blow it. Either they don't understand the concept of "free", or they don't have total faith in the principle of reciprocity.

For example, consider the offer "get a free camera when you subscribe to our magazine for two years." That's not free. Or, "free installation with a one year commitment." That's not free. The customer is paying with an obligation. No sale.

Consider the offer,"receive the latest issue of our magazine absolutely free. No bill will be sent." If the prospective customer finds the magazine to be of value, they feel an obligation to subscribe. Or, "one month of free Internet service. No credit card required." If the Internet service performs well, the prospective customer feels an obligation to sign up.

The trick is to create something that has high perceived value to a prospective customer, but costs you little or nothing to produce. Free information is a good example. Here again many advertisers totally blow it. The free information turns out to be nothing more than blatant advertising.

Free samples of your product or service is another good example. Again, many businesses blow it. They either produce a cheaper version of their product to use as free samples, or they use the free sample campaign as a means to dump reject product.

The largest Internet Service Provider is well known for giving away hundreds of hours of service for free. No credit card required. The largest cookie company is famous for giving away free cookies. Reciprocity is a very powerful marketing strategy.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 2: Scarcity

Scarcity works like this: There is a limited amount of the item available. After those are gone, the item will not be available. "urgency" implies Scarcity. For example, "this offer will be honored only for a limited time".

The effectiveness of the scarcity principle is well demonstrated by the large segment of the population involved in pursuing antiques, collectibles, and memorabilia simply because these items are scarce. Scarcity is often contrived, as when a company produces a "limited edition".

For example, when Disney releases a limit edition of one of its classic stories - yes, limited to a production of more copies than they could ever possibly sell - then it goes in the "vault". And how fortunate we'll be a few years from now when they decide to do us the favor of taking it back out of the vault.

Note: Manufactured items, especially DVDs and CD-ROMs, cannot be "scarce". It's a simple matter to put the manufacturing dies back into production. All scarcities of manufactured items are contrived.

One popular incarnation of scarcity is the "going out of business sale". Customers somehow don't pick up on the fact that the mark-downs are not that great, or that the store has new merchandise coming in the back door to take advantage of the increase in traffic.

Scarcity is a very powerful marketing tool. There are many ways to contrive scarcity. You can create a limited edition, or for items like information products, scarcity can exist in the form of urgency by creating a limited time offer.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 3: Commitment

Commitment involves getting a prospective customer to take a tiny step towards a goal. For example, you might get them to request free information, or fill out a survey. When the prospective customer takes that first step, they have made a commitment, however tentative, towards the goal you have set out for them. They are likely to take another step.

One example of this process is the "two step" method used in mail order. When a mail order marketer runs an advertisement, they don't even try to sell the product. Instead, the advertisement offers free information. A prospective customer makes that first commitment towards purchasing the product by requesting the free information. The free information they receive is designed to entice them to take the next step.

Another example of using commitment as a marketing tool is a survey. By checking a few boxes and answering a few questions, a prospective customer takes that first step towards a commitment. The result they receive from the survey is designed to entice them to take the next step.

Yet another example of using commitment as a marketing tool is a lottery. For example, people enter their name and address on a ticket for a chance to win a new car. A salesman uses that information to contact them. By entering their name and address on the lottery ticket, the individual has made a commitment to own that new car.

The most common example of the principle of commitment are those long-winded full page advertisements in magazines. The prospective customer invests a great deal of time reading through the entire advertisement. That investment of time represents a commitment. They are likely to take the next step, responding to the advertisement.

To use the psychological power of commitment in your advertising, don't try to sell your product or service in your ad. Instead, use a survey, contest, or free information to get a prospective customer to make that first step towards a commitment to purchase your product.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 4: Consensus

Consensus involves getting prospective customers to believe that "everybody's doing it". Everybody is just waiting in line to purchase your product. Everybody can't be wrong, so the product must be fantastic!

Of course you're smart enough to know that everybody CAN be wrong. Everybody thought that SUVs were safe vehicles (they roll over). Everybody thought Enron was a great investment (it went bankrupt). Everybody thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (well maybe not everybody). You're an independent thinker.

Here are some examples of headlines using the consensus principle: "It's the new sensation crossing the country", "People are signing up in droves", "People just can't get enough of them", "Record sales", "Unbelievable response!" and "Join millions of smart consumers". Combine this with a stock photograph of a large group of people, a long line of people, or a crowd of people, and you have a powerful consensus message.

Note: Many people don't think they're having fun unless they're in a large, noisy crowd. Unfortunately, every large crowd contains a few lunatics. When things go wrong, the crowd stampedes and people get hurt, or killed. When I see a large crowd, I head the other way.

Fortuately, most people are not independent thinkers. They act like a herd of cattle. Use the consensus principle in your advertising, and people, like lemmings headed for the sea, will come in waves to buy your product.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 5: Authority

Authority involves getting prospective customers to believe that someone who is knowledgeable or famous uses your product or service. If a knowledgeable or famous person uses your product, then it must be fantastic!

The bigger the authority, the more powerful the advertising message will be. For example, doctors are authorities. "Most doctors prescribe Tylenol for arthritis pain". Large organizations are authorities. "The National Heart Association says - Quaker oatmeal is good for your heart." The Federal Government is an authority. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says whole wheat bread is part of a complete diet". If only we could think of a way to use God as an authority!

Here's how to use the principle of authority in advertising: search the Internet for any references to your product or service. Find an article that alludes to your product being of value. For example, let's say you sell black T-shirts. You find an article by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that says "bees are attracted to bright colored clothing". Your copy: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture that says my T-shirts protect you from attack by stinging insects."

Most advertising using the authority principle is taken out of context and exaggerated. Some advertising uses totally fake authorities. "My dog biscuits are recommended by the International Association of Dog Nutritionists" (an organization I started last week). Some advertising uses a "study" as an authority. "A recent study found that my lemonade tastes better than any other brand" (my mother liked it better).

I don't recommend that you use a fake organization, a fake study, or take information out of context or exaggerate, but if you can locate a legitimate authority or study related in any way to your product and quote it without exaggeration, you will have a powerful authority message.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 6: Greed

Greed involves taking advantage of many peoples belief that there is a secret short cut to wealth. They believe that wealthy people didn't earn their wealth, instead they know a "secret".

Note: I am not recommending that you use the principle of greed because it is used by unethical scammers. I'm simply informing you of it's existence in order to make this series of articles complete.

The simplest method of using the principle of greed is the chain letter. You have no doubt received a chain letter at some point. A chain letter contains a chart specifying the massive amounts of money the recipient will get when they follow the instructions. The first instruction is to send money.

The multi-level or network marketing scheme works similar to a chain letter. The prospective recruit gets a chart showing the massive amounts of money they will receive when they join the network. After parting with their money, the victim is instructed to con their friends and relatives into joining.

Another method of using the principle of greed is the lottery or casino. The odds of winning most lotteries are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not. A casino allocates only a tiny portion of it's customers money to winnings in order to create the illusion that the odds of winning are good. Many people don't understand statistics. In their mind, the phrase "win a million dollars" translates into "get a million dollars".

Another example of the principle of greed is the business opportunity scam. We know it works because successful scammers invest millions to run business opportunity infomercials, and they make hundreds of millions in profits. They prey on people who believe there is a secret short cut to wealth. The scammers think people who fall for their scam are stupid, lazy, and greedy, so they deserve to get ripped off.

The way to use the principle of greed is to contrive a "secret plan". Run an ad describing how the plan requires absolutely no work to make massive amounts of money. Include a few bogus testimonials and a legitimate looking chart that shows the massive amount of money the plan will bring. Some scammers include pictures of fake checks or fake bank statements.

Never divulge any details of the plan in the ad. The prospective customer is required to send money to get the plan. The typical plan instructs the purchaser to run the same scam.

The principle of greed is very powerful. People who have been ripped of by this scam a thousand times before will, like hypnotized zombies, send you their money. They think THIS TIME they will receive the REAL secret plan.

Psychological Tricks For Making Money With Your Blog

Just as a psychologist, and not as a fellow blogger or internet money making machine. So, here are a few tips. They are not a must, feel free only to implement those you feel good about and those that won’t change dramatically your way of blogging, unless you feel it needs to be changed. Anyway, let’s get started…

Don’t be so money oriented. The only way to win your readers *love* is not to talk with them about money, at least not all the time, unless you actually teach them how can they earn them themselves. People, who’s only concern and value seems to be money, tend to put off. Promote high values instead.

Win your readers’ trust. You know how much fraud there is today on the internet. Everyone is looking for someone genuine, someone real and honest who will tell them the truth about some product or network and won’t try to promote them just to get a commission, never mind what crap they are selling. I refused tons of reviews offers and advertisers’ links only because I felt their products could not deliver what it promises. All these e-Books that guarantee to make you a millionaire… they do pay good money for advertising, but I knew that if my readers will see that I promote such websites, or buy that products and end up disappointed, and, will remember how ardently I was recommending it, they will never trust any other review I make or product I recommend. Basically, advice your readers to use only what you used successfully yourself. If you need to make money with a sponsored review, accept only relevant offers that you believe in yourself, and make it clear to the reader that the review was sponsored, either by placing it in a “sponsored reviews” category, or state it in the post. US law, for instance, demands disclosure of sponsored posts.

Don’t lose your dignity in readers’ eyes. Talking about your downfalls and how much you need financial support, for example, is needless. Begging for donations under some poor excuses such as you can’t pay the hosting bill - won’t make you look good in readers eyes. Some will feel sorry for you and leave a cheering comment, others will throw a few bucks your way, but others will just not respect you as an online entrepreneur. I mean, you can’t cover 10$ a month? Okay, some of you can’t, and I am not saying there is anything wrong with not been as well-off as Darren Rowse, but letting the whole world know about it - is wrong. Most people tend to respect successful bloggers a lot more than beginners who struggle to make a cent out of their online business. Sad, I know, but this is how the world works.

Be honest. Not many do it though. I know, when the feedburner has little subscribers, it’s so very tempting to link to someone else’s image, it’s very tempting to say you make 5,000$ a month with your blog in order to impress others and set your visitors counter to a starting number of one million. There are so many things you could have done to make your blog look hella’ popular, but the thing is, if someone will find out (and there are many third party tools to measure the real worth of your blog), you will lose your face once and for all. If your counter has little visitors and feedburner shows 2 subscribers, the best thing you can do it just not make them public, yet.

Talk to readers. When making a blog post, keep in mind that you don’t write an essay that has to pass an exam and go to the archive, in hope to gather traffic from the SE one day. You have to talk to the visitor, make your writing interactive. Ask questions, answer to them. Throw some provoking statement (within limits, ok?) and approve or disapprove of it. Touch to reader’s heart by comparing online life to simple daily life examples, this will make you more real in their eyes and allow them to understand better what you are talking about. Cover frequently asked questions in your post, cover topics that everyone is talking about nowadays and give your own opinion. Be mean, have sense of humour, be cynical or very cheering, just make it clear to the readers that you are not a mere source of information behind a keyboard, you are a human with thoughts, character and ideas. Fascinating personalities attract, and everyone is unique in his own way, don’t be afraid to show it and win your online fans and admirers.


Okay, does it all help to make money? Yes. People will trust you and sign up with your affiliate links, knowing it works and you don’t lie. You will make it interesting to read your blog - they will come back, recommend your blog to others and it will grow. If you won’t talk about money in every post, they won’t feel like you use your audience as a mere tool to get paid for hits. Enjoy your blog, enjoy your writing, they will enjoy reading and money will come naturally.
That’s it for now. I might do a similar post in the future with more tips from my bank of knowledge. Hope this reading was interesting, interactive, honest enough and I didn’t talk about money too much, did I? Speaking of which, remind me to enlarge my “donate me!” button